hawkins



(Ne'ModeL) Wiinamwx 2 Sheets-Sheet l, W. H. HAWKINS.

Pm] ESCAPE LADDER.

Patented June 13, 1882.

Egg Fig.1.

- (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. H. HAWKINS.

FIRE ESCAPE LADDER.

lhzrfniw".

N PETERS. Mich-Lithographer. Washinpnn. 0.1:

itlwrrn 'ra'rns a'rnr rates.

WILLIAM H. HA\VKINS, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOSEPH WALTER, OF SAME PLACE.

FlRE=E$CAPE moose.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 259,537, dated June 13, 1882.

Application filed March 9, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. HAWKINS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Albany, in the county of Albany andState of New York, have invented a new and useful Fire-Escape Ladder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fire-escape ladders which are intended to be fastened to a building upon the breaking out of a fire therein, for use during its continuance; and the objects of my improvements are, first, to afford a safe and ready means of escape for the occupants of the upper floors 1 of a building to the floors beneath, and for all persons occupying fioors above the first story to make their escape to the ground safely and quickly; second, to enable the occupants of the lower fioors to provide a safe and ready means of escape for those occupying floors above them, and to use the same means whereby to effect their own escape, third, to enable firemen and others to quickly ascend the outer walls of lofty buildings, especially from story to story, with greater rapidity and safety than is possible by means of ladders heretofore in common use. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure l is a view in perspective of the entire ladder; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the entire ladder as it appears when fastened to a. building in an elevated position; Fig. 3, a vertical section of a part of the ladder asit ap- 5 pears when fastened to a building in a suspended position; Fig. 4, a view in perspective of the adjustable plate attached to the side pieces of the ladder; Fig. 5, a viewin perspective of a building upon which ladders are ele- 0 vated and suspended from story to story.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My invention consists of the ladder A, made of iron or other suitable material, similar in 5 construction to ladders in common use aside from the slots (1. a, extending through and along its side pieces from a point near the center to a point near the end a n of each of said side pieces. Then by means of the bolts 1) 11, ex-

tending into and through the slots 0, a, and

.justable thereon.

made fast in the adjustable plate (I, at or near its ends, I fasten said plate to the side pieces of the ladder A, upon which it is free to slide up and down from end to end of the slots a a. (See Fig. I.) I do not, however, confine myself to this particular means of attaching the adjustable plate (I to the side pieces of the ladder A, as it may be attached thereto in other ways fully as simple and effective. The hole at m through the center of the adjustable plate (I, as shown in Fig. 4, then receives the bolt 6, said bolt being of sufficient length to reach from the exterior surface beyond the in terior surface of the walls of the building to which the ladder A is to be attached through the opening W therein provided for a window, the bolt 6 also extending into and through the slots F F of the adjustable clamping-bars g h, which are retained upon the bolt 6 by means of the hand-wheel 'i, which is screwed upon the thread-cut end of the bolt 6, and freely ad- (See Figs. 1 and 2.)

To elevate the ladder A upon the outside of a building from onestory to another, I first slide the adjustable plate d, with the clampingbars a h attached thereto, as hereinbefore described, up to or near the center of the ladder. I then raise the ladder upward through the window W, and as it is being brought back to a perpendicular position, its ends 12. a resting upon and against the outer edge of the window-sill s, I adjust the clamping -bars g h across the inside of the window W, so that their ends bear against the inner surface, m, of the wall of the building, to which they are then made fast by screwing the hand-wheel 2' up firmly against the bar a, which is back of and against the bar g, the ends n n of the ladderAbeing,bythelast-namedoperation,firmly fastened against and upon the window-sill .8, 0 the top of the ladder at the same time being thereby drawn back against the window-sill t of the story above, in which position the ladder A is securely held. (See Figs. 2 and 5.) The clamping-bars g it necessarily extending 9 5 across the window W, so that their ends may rest upon the inner surface, m, of the wall, upon both sides of the window W, as shown in Fig. 2, their adjustment is readily effected to any required position by means of the elon- I00 gated slots F F. (See Fig. 1.) One of the clamping-bars g h would be sufficient for the purpose to which the two are applied, as aforesaid; butboth are permanently retained upon the bolte for the complete utility of myinvention, as hereinafter appears.

To suspend the ladder A from the outside of a building from one story to another, I first slide the adjustable plate d, with the clampingbars g h attached thereto, as hereiubefore described, down to the ends a a of the ladder, which is then lowered from the window W until the edge of the adjustable plate (I rests upon the top of the window-sill s, at or near its outer edge, the ends n n of the ladder A projecting perpendicularly above the windowsill s. 1 then adjust the clampingbar 9 against the outer surface, 0, of the wall of the building, upon the top of the window-sill 8, directly back of and parallel with the plate d, the ends of the bar-g projecting beyond the ends of the plate (1 and beyond the side edges of the window W. I then adjust the clampingbar h against the inner surface, m, of the wall of the building, on a line parallel with the bar g. I then screw the hand-wheeli firmly against the bar h, thereby drawing the ends a n of the ladder A back firmly againstthe building, to which it is securely fastened by means of the clamping-bars g h, being by the last-named operation firmly fastened to the wall of the building in their relative positions, as abovedescribed. (See Figs. 3 and 5.)

With one of my improved fire-escape ladders conveniently at hand on each floor, the occupants of the highest buildings, from the uppermost stories down, can quickly provide for themselves a continuous fire-escape to the ground by suspending a ladderfrom each story, one under another; or theladders may be raised from story to story equally well and promptly by the occupants of the building, all as shown in Fig. 5. \Vith two of these ladders, say, upon the fifth floor of a six story building, one of them may be raised to the sixth story, the other lowered to the fourth, and from the same window, if desired, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby enabling the occupants of the sixth and fifth stories to descend to the fourth, whereupon, by removing the ladder elevated from the fifth story, descending the ladder suspended from the fifth story with it in hand, and suspending it from the fourth story, the occupants of the sixth, fifth, and fourth stories will, by means of the two ladders, have been provided with a means of escape down to the third; or, where a ladder is elevated from the fourth and one from the fifth story of a six'story building, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, the occupants of the sixth and fifth stories may descend to the fourth.

'Then by removing the ladder elevated from the I consider of great importance, since, in mein-,

orable fires of recent date especially, the inability of firemen to rescue persons imprisoned in the top stories of lofty buildings by means of ladders at their command demands that the occupants of the upper stories especially of a building shall have at their own command suitable means of effecting their escape down to a story of a building at which outside aid can be made available in their behalf, or, better still, from the top of a building to the ground independently of such assistance.

As above described, my invention, simple in construction, of enduring strength and ready adjustment upon-the walls of a building, is adapted to a wider range of use than any fireescape heretofore introduced.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a fire-escape ladder, of the vertically-adjustable plate 01, carrying the bolt 0, adjustable clampingbars g h, and adjustable hand-wheel i, all substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a fire-escape ladder, of one or more adjustable clamping-bars, g h, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

versible fire-escape ladder A, constructed and combined with means for securing it to the side of the building, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

W. G. VAN ALSTYNE, J. K. HOTALING.

3. As a new article of manufacture, the re- 

